Outside the gate of the Gongyuan reproduced the scene before the first opening of the township examination in the early morning of the ninth day of the first month, the people were like a tide, the lights were like a sea, and there were even more gossips and rumors, only a very small part of the nine thousand candidates were raised, and the vast majority of them were depressed and depressed, and the vast majority of them felt that they were not talented, so as soon as there were rumors stimulated, they found a reason to vent, except for those who had returned to their hometowns, the rest of the candidates responded to the call, and they gathered here in the Gongyuan - when Zhang Yuan and his party of hundreds of people arrived, There are already a large number of sergeants in front of the left and right squares of the Gongyuan Courtyard, guarding against these fallen showmen to attack the Gongyuan, the scene is chaotic, the lights are complicated, even the people who know Ping Yue look weird at this time, a middle-aged scholar in a square scarf and shirt saw Zhang Yuan's group of people coming, thinking that it was also a candidate who rushed to make trouble after hearing the wind, and hurriedly came up to contact: "Everyone, everyone, the evidence of fraud in the undergraduate township examination is conclusive, and the examiner gives the candidates of the Han Society a joint, otherwise how can there be twenty-eight people in the Han Society on the list, that Zhang Yuan is only eighteen years old, What kind of knowledge, actually set aside the yuan, if there is no joint who believes, we will definitely make a fuss, so that we can have the opportunity to retake the exam, don't you say? ”

Zhang Yuan said quietly: "What Brother Ren said is extremely true, but I heard that Zhang Yuan is not only eighteen years old, but twenty, seventy or eight-"

The middle-aged scholar said: "No, it's eighteen years old, I know this better than you, I know Zhang Yuan, Zhang Yuan's knowledge is actually very mediocre, and his published eight-strand anthologies are all written by others, selling their reputation and reputation, and they are extremely shameless." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "I see, where is Brother Taixian Township, is it also a candidate for the undergraduate township examination?" ”

The middle-aged scholar was indignant and said, "Of course I am a candidate, otherwise how could I be so angry." But he refused to say his name and hometown - Huang Zunsu asked: "The evidence of fraud in the science field that Brother Tai said is conclusive, I don't know what evidence there is?" ”

The middle-aged scholar said: "The people in the Han Society headed by Zhang Yuan gathered 18,000 taels of silver and gave it to the examiner Qian Qianyi, someone has seen this with their own eyes, if people don't know, unless they do nothing, the conspiracy will always be exposed, right?" ”

The members of the Han Society around Zhang Yuan were very angry, especially those who were lifted, they were almost angry, but they knew that Zhang Yuan was testing this person, so they endured it and did not have a seizure, but their expressions were already wrong, this scholar saw it, arched his hand, and wanted to slip away with a few vague words - Zhang Yuan stopped and said: "Wait, I want to ask you, where did you hear these things?" ”

The footsteps were mixed, and a group of members of the Han Society and their servants surrounded the middle-aged scholar, and the scholar looked terrified and shouted, "What do you mean by this? What do you mean by that—"

Zhang Yuan asked him, "Do you know who I am?" ”

The middle-aged scholar laughed and said, "I haven't known Jing yet." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Only I am Zhang Yuan." ”

The middle-aged scholar opened his mouth and was frightened, and reluctantly said: "It's hearsay below, it can't be true, it can't be true-"

A grumpy member of the Han Society shouted angrily: "Didn't you say that the evidence is conclusive, 18,000 taels, who saw it with his own eyes?" Today, if you don't make it clear, I'll beat you half to death, although my Han Society is a literary society, but it will also use force. ”

The members of the club shouted and scolded one after another, forced the rumor-mongers, and tarnished people's reputation, which is really hateful.

Zhang Yuan stared at the middle-aged scholar and said: "You slandered my colleagues in the Han Society to your face, if you can't give conclusive evidence, I will drag you to see Wang Tixue, Da Ming Law is guilty of false accusations, and you will definitely be stripped of your shirt." ”

Everyone in the Han Society said: "Yes, I dragged him to see the great grandmaster, and he was dismissed from his reputation." ”

The middle-aged scholar's face was pale, and he begged for mercy: "I am stupid, I misheard the rumors, I believe it is true, and those who don't know are not guilty, Zhang Sheshou, Zhang Jieyuan, all the talents, spare me this time." ”

Zhang Dai sneered: "Those who don't know are not guilty, to put it lightly, send him to see the great grandmaster." ”

Huang Zunsu said: "This person should not be an undergraduate candidate-"

As soon as these words came out, the middle-aged scholar's expression became more and more panicked, and he suddenly shouted: "Help, help-the people of the Han Society have beaten the first candidate, help-help-" The cry was terrible.

The middle-aged scholar wanted to arouse the public anger of the other candidates present and create chaos, so he could get out - sure enough, other scholars came around to watch the excitement and asked what happened? The middle-aged scholar in the crowd who shouted for help shouted and rushed towards the human wall, wanting to take the opportunity to squeeze out and run away, the previous angry Han Club member really knew how to use force, when he kicked it in the chest, the other Han Club members stopped the people outside, isolated from the inside and outside, although there were only more than 100 Han Club members present, but it was better to work together, although there were many other candidates, it was just a plate of loose sand, and they all followed the trend to coax.

The servants of the two members of the Han Society twisted the middle-aged scholar back, and Zhang Yuan asked, "Are you from the Dong family or from the Wang family?" ”

This middle-aged scholar's face was gray, he was only ordered to spread rumors, and he also successfully instigated the resentment of many candidates, but he didn't expect to bump into Zhang Yuan and a cadre from the Han Society, at this time, I heard Zhang Yuan ask him bluntly whether he was from the Dong family or the Wang family, and since he knew that he was defeated, his body trembled, and he was about to go to the ground-Huang Zunsu smiled and said: "If you do too much injustice, you will kill yourself, this person was sent to the door by himself, and I knew that Huang Sangao didn't need Huang Sangao to go to the garden——"

I heard the three cannons of the Dragon Gate, and all the beings were silent, only to see the gate of the Gongyuan slowly open, and a team of officials poured out first, shouting "quiet", and then a group of examiners walked out, dozens of lanterns were shining, as bright as day - the chief examiner Qian Qianyi heard that the first candidates surrounded the Gongyuan, at first he was shocked, he dethroned the seven embedded examination papers in order to avoid suspicion, thinking that there would be no more mistakes, but unexpectedly such rumors would be born, and the spearhead was directed at him, the chief examiner, and he heard the voice of the Gongyuan people, and he didn't know how to deal with it for a while- Qian Qianyi is of course a very smart person, but before the Tanhua has been reading, making friends, after the Tanhua in the Hanlin Academy to compile history, the minister is idle, has not yet been involved in the intrigue of officialdom, and has no experience as a magistrate, lacks the ability to deal with emergencies, no matter how smart a person is, if he has not experienced training, he will always be old and spicy, which is also the reason why Qian Qianyi later lost to Wen Tiren when he fought for the minister, Qian Qianyi is the kind of person who is only suitable for learning - He Rushen, the political envoy, and Ye Qifan, the governor of the imperial history, are not here, except for Zheng, In addition to the two deputy chief examiners, there are also the house officials and the county school officials who have not yet left, and the deputy chief examiner Wang Bian, who is nearly sixty years old, once served as the inspector of the imperial history, known as majestic, immediately discussed a few words with Qian Qianyi, convened the school officials and officials of the prefectures and counties, and went out with guns - dozens of officials shouted in unison: "President Qian and Wang Tixue are here, you must not make noise!" ”

The candidates outside the Gongyuan were shocked by the dragon cannon at first, and they had quieted down, and at this time, they saw President Qian and Wang Tixue coming out, they were all solemn, these students who were encouraged by rumors followed and coaxed, but they didn't dare to speak out for the head, President Qian They were not very awe-inspiring, they were afraid of Wang Tixue, the great master, who had the right to get rid of their students' fame - the white-haired and Xiao Ran Great Grandmaster Wang Bian said loudly: "The school officials of all prefectures and counties will gather their respective students, and the idle people will retreat, and the students will be lined up, and Hangzhou Mansion will be the first from the left. ”

The professor of Hangzhou Prefecture and the teachings of several counties under its jurisdiction asked the officials to move out the long card lamps of each county, and the names of the candidates were written on the lampshade, as if a moth saw the lights, and the long card lamps were very attractive to the candidates. The thousands of students in the eleventh province of Zhejiang Province were divided into eleven long queues and lined up, although the queue was crooked, but it was much more orderly than before, crowded into a mess - Wang Tixue asked Qian Qianyi to lecture the sentient beings, Qian Qianyi humbly conceded, or asked Wang Tixue to deal with this matter, Wang Tixue also took it as a stand, and asked the sentient beings first what was the matter of gathering?

After a while, finally a Ningbo student was bold, and stepped forward to explain to the great master the reason for their gathering, but he heard that the students of the Han Society were cheating - Wang Tixue shouted: "Cheating in the field, this is a big case of dismissal of officials and confiscation of the army, who dares to spread rumors!" The tone was slightly slower: "The people of the Han Society are the result of hard study, learning and thinking, and you don't want to study hard, but you listen to rumors and come to the Gongyuan to make trouble, Taizu is forbidden by the inscription, all the military and civilian benefits and diseases, and the students are not allowed to make suggestions, you and other beings, are not afraid of the severe punishment of the Ming law?" ”

Although all beings have slander, they dare not speak out at this time.

Wang Tixue said: "Before noon tomorrow, the ink scrolls and vermilion scrolls of the 120 people selected by the undergraduate will be posted on the wall in front of the yamen of the political envoy, and you can go to compare and see, and those who want to learn and figure it out can then buy the Zhu scroll of the Zhejiang Township Test of Yimaoke-" asked in a loud voice: "What else do you have to say?" ”

Where do you dare to say anything, you will listen to Wang Tixue: "If you have nothing to say, you will not quickly disperse, and if you dare to gather a crowd to make trouble, let the county officials write down their names, and the light ones will be demoted to the second class, and the heavy ones will be removed from the fame of the students." ”

All the beings looked at each other, hung their heads and retreated, the square outside the gate of the Gongyuan soon ceased to be crowded, but there were still many people standing still, this is the queue of Shaoxing Mansion students, the Shaoxing Mansion professor was annoyed, and was about to scold, Zhang Yuan and several people stepped forward to salute, and went over to meet the two examiners - Qian Qianyi and Wang Bian saw that it was Zhang Yuan and Huang Zunsu, and suddenly became pleasant, Wang Tixue said: "Zhang Yuan, don't be disturbed, the rumors will dissipate." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Teacher Qian, Teacher Wang, a few students just came to the front of the Gongyuan, and they encountered a person who spread rumors, this person does not seem to be an undergraduate candidate, but was instructed to spread rumors, and the students have detained this person and are waiting for the disposal of the two teachers. As he spoke, he waved his hand back, and two servants came over with the middle-aged scribe who was spreading rumors.

Qian Qianyi and Wang Bian glanced at each other and nodded together, there were rumors before and after this township test, there must be someone behind the scenes, Wang Bian looked at this middle-aged scribe with a pale face, and asked those county scholars around him, which county is this student from? Those professors and teachers carefully identified them, and they all said that they didn't know each other, and there was no such student in this county-Wang Tixue was surprised and asked the middle-aged scribe: "Where are you a student?" ”

When the middle-aged scribe saw that several hall officials were solemn and majestic, and the officials were fighting with open fire, he was already trembling with fright, and knelt down and said: "The student is a child from She County, Huizhou, not a student. ”

Wang Tixue was furious and shouted: "Since you are not a student, how dare you wear a square scarf and a shirt? ”

Qian Qianyi said: "Presumably, I want to use a square scarf shirt to pretend to be an undergraduate candidate, so as to spread rumors to confuse the public." ”

Wang Tixue drank his life, first took off the turban, stripped off the shirt, and flogged twenty before questioning, and the two officials of the Yamen who learned the Tao stepped forward to press the middle-aged boy down, and beat him hard with a bamboo slice that was five feet long and a palm wide, and this time the screams were really terrible - after the bamboo flogger was twenty, he set up a question and called everything, this person's surname is Wang, his name is Wang Lizhi, he is a distant relative of Wang Ruqian's clan, he manages the tea house for Wang Ruqian in Hangzhou, and spreads rumors on the orders of Wang Ruqian with the intention of framing Zhang Yuan and the people of the Han Society- Although Wang Ruqian is only a Huizhou talent, his fame is not small, Qian Qianyi and Wang Bian have heard of this Wang Ruqian, and know that this person is quite talented, poetry and painting, and there is a lot of wealth - Qian Qianyi asked Zhang Yuan: "Why does this Wang Ruqian want to spread rumors and frame you?" ”

Zhang Yuan naturally knew the reason, firstly, because of the conflict in the Youlan Pavilion of the Qinhuai River last year, and secondly, because Wang Ruqian's Green Sky Pavilion Bookstore had fierce competition with the Hanshe Bookstore, and Suzhou Fan Wenruo had a letter to him about it in the first two months, of course, these things don't have to be said to Qian Qianyi - Zhang Yuan said: "Teacher Qian, this rumor is not only aimed at my Hanshe, but also slanders the reputation of the two teachers, this Wang Lizhi still has nothing to say, and there is one person behind the scenes besides Wang Ruqian——"

That Wang Li didn't wait for Qian Qianyi to ask him, and hurriedly confessed: "Yes, yes, there is another one is Dong Zuyuan, the son of Dong, and his father Dong Xuanzai." ”

Hearing the names of "Dong Zuyuan, Dong Xuanzai", Qian Qianyi and Wang Bian immediately understood, Wang Bian knew the feud between Dong Qichang and Zhang Yuan, before the Taoist test last year, Dong Qichang also wrote a letter asking him to depose Zhang Yuan and not make up Zhang Yuan as a student; Qian Qianyi was even more aware of it, and at the same time extremely angry, Dong Zuyuan did this of course out of the instructions of his father Dong Qichang, Dong Qichang in order to frame Zhang Yuan, he actually dragged him Qian Qianyi into the water, and falsely accused him of accepting bribes of 18,000 taels, which is the crime of confiscating the army, thinking of the smile of Dong Qichang coming to the door to deliver calligraphy and paintings, Qian Qianyi felt a wave of disgust in his heart - the matter involves Dong Qichang, it is a little tricky, Wang Bian said to Qian Qianyi: "President Qian, you have to be in charge of this matter, maybe discuss with He Fangbo and Ye Yushi how to deal with it." ”

Qian Qianyi nodded, and ordered someone to escort this Wang Li directly to the Yamen of the Political Envoy, and he and Wang Bian arrived later.

(To be continued)